Annular Theory (Vailan Theory) is a scientific hypothesis which claims that Earth was surrounded by rings of water vapor which fell in deluges. It was first proposed by its namesake Isaac Newton Vail in the mid 1800's, and became more popular towards the end of the century. Annular Theory is thought to explain various scientific phenomenon, such as mountain uplifting, as well as references from religious texts around the world.
Model
editAnnular Theory is founded on the basis of rings of water vapor orbiting the Earth during the early stages of its development. The minimum speed a mass must maintain to remain in orbit around the Earth is approximately 17,000 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour). The speed at which the outermost layers of the atmosphere orbited around the equator is about 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kilometers per hour). Thus, any particles orbiting the Earth farther than a critical radius from the surface will remain in orbit around the planet. Additionally, Earth's atmospheric temperature prior to its cooling was upwards of 3600 °F (1900 °C), preventing any condensation of vapors into liquid water. As Earth cooled, the vapor at the poles had neither the tangential velocity nor the temperature necessary to keep the water molecules orbiting the planet. The water at the poles then fell to the Earth forming the primitive oceans. As time passed, the gravity caused by the moon slowed down the orbiting vapor molecules, resulting in layers of Earth's vaporous rings to slow down, spread across the Earth and precipitate in deluges.
Evidence
editEvidence that points towards the Annular Theory being an accurate model includes geologic and astronomical data.
Geological Evidence
editSedimentary Rocks
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Minerals such as quartz and silicates have been shown to dissolve in high temperature water vapors. During the early stages of Earth's formation, particles of these minerals rose to the atmosphere along with the vapors, resulting in heavier particles mixed into these vaporous rings orbiting the planet. Due to the densities of the vapor containing heavier particles being higher than the densities of the vapor contain lighter particles, the vapor containing havy particles would have settled into the inner-most rings of the annular model. Once the cooling process began, the inner rings would have fallen to the Earth, bringing down the heavy particles with them. This would result in the earliest sedimentary rocks containing primarily heavy elements, and over time, the composition of the sedimentary rocks include lighter elements. Geologists have determined this to be true; the deepest sedimentary sheets are composed of heavy elements such as metals, while the sheets superior are composed of primarily lighter elements such as carbon.
Astronomical Evidence
editMoon
editThe reasoning that Isaac Newton Vail uses to show that the moon is evidence of the annular theory is as follows: it is known that the moon is currently receding away from the Earth, but is also paradoxically slowing its orbit. If the moon was slowing down due to external factors, with all conditions on Earth remaining the same, the moon would get closer to the Earth. However, since it recedes, the assumption that the conditions on Earth are not the same must be false. Vail then continues by concluding that some condition about the Earth must have changed. Moreover, it is important to note that if the gravitational attraction between a body and a satellite is lowered, the satellite recedes from the planet and slows down. Annular theory supports this idea, as the movement of vapor from the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth would have resulted in a lower gravitational attraction between the Earth and the moon.
Religion
editAnnular Theory provides scientific explanations for a wide range of stories in various religious texts.
The Great Flood Archetype
editThe Great Flood Archetype is a story told in many religions about a global flooding event which covers the entire surface of the Earth. One
Christianity
editIn the traditional creation story of Christianity, God creates